Bush keeps saying he'll listen to the military. But the leaders of the military are saying "NO" to the troop surge idea. Increased troops, an idea pushed primarily by Senator John McCain, is apparently being seriously considered by the White House. However, today's Washington Post has a blockbuster article reporting on unanimous opposition to troop increases from the Joint Chiefs:
The Bush administration is split over the idea of a surge in troops to Iraq, with White House officials aggressively promoting the concept over the unanimous disagreement of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to U.S. officials familiar with the intense debate.
Sending 15,000 to 30,000 more troops for a mission of possibly six to eight months is one of the central proposals on the table of the White House policy review to reverse the steady deterioration in Iraq. The option is being discussed as an element in a range of bigger packages, the officials said.
This next passage is probably one of the most accurate assessments of the White House's approach to Iraq:
But the Joint Chiefs think the White House, after a month of talks, still does not have a defined mission and is latching on to the surge idea in part because of limited alternatives, despite warnings about the potential disadvantages for the military, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House review is not public.
The chiefs have taken a firm stand, the sources say, because they believe the strategy review will be the most important decision on Iraq to be made since the March 2003 invasion.
Past chiefs -- notably Richard Myers -- were lapdogs and did not stand up to Bush and Rumsfeld. The military is paying a price for that failure.
The White House is "latching on to the surge idea" because they've got nothing else. The Bush team is willing to send more troops to die to make it look like they're doing something. Bush and his people are out of control. Clearly, the intervention didn't work.
